Norman Bird
Known For
Acting
Born
1920-10-30 in Coalville, Leicestershire, England, UK
Died
2005-04-22
Biography
John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of The Winter's Tale at the Phoenix Theatre in 1951. He was also a member of the BBC's Radio Drama Company. His first film appearance was as the foreman in An Inspector Calls (1954). He was a familiar face to British cinema audiences of the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in nearly 50 films such as The Angry Silence (1960), The League of Gentlemen (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Victim (1961) and Term of Trial (1962) with Laurence Olivier and The Hill with Sean Connery (1965). He had over 200 television appearances, notably as Mr Braithwaite in Worzel Gummidge (1979–81) and Mr Arrad in the Fawlty Towers episode "Waldorf Salad" (1979). His long list of credits include Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Rising Damp, Ever Decreasing Circles, Yes Minister, To Serve Them All My Days, All Creatures Great and Small, Z-Cars, Public Eye, The Saint, Department S, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Boon. In 1990 he appeared in Stay Lucky, with Dennis Waterman, which marked his 200th television appearance. One of his last film appearances was as a taxi driver in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands (1993).
Most Known For
Coronation Street
as Frank Jackson
The Avengers
The Saint
as Mr. Spode
The Saint
as Weems
All Creatures Great and Small
as Farmer Benson
Crown Court
Theatre 625
as William Oaks
Fawlty Towers
as Mr. Arrad
No Hiding Place
Yes Minister
Z-Cars
Screen Two
as Grandfather
Return of the Saint
as Morgan
Thirty-Minute Theatre
as Arthur Pendlebury
Public Eye
as Arthur Biddle
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
as Inspector Trent
Maniac
as Salon
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
as Henry Bircher
Angels
Softly Softly: Task Force
as Samuel Tomkins